• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

asus m5a97 wont boot

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

boosteeddc

Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2012
Location
winter garden FL
so i was building a spare rig with my m5a97 and fx6100, i bought it off a friend for cheap and knows for sure it works, so now i built everything with 2x4gb rams and tried to use a old school amd 4xxx gpu to boot since this mobo doesnt have on board graphics and it wont boot, no boot leds no dram led nothin, everything turns on even the graphics card but nothin shows on the screen, what can i try to troubleshoot this? and could it be possible that this graphic card isnt compatible with these newer mobos?
 
1. You don't mention power supply. Do you have 8 pin CPU power connector plugged into the board from the power supply.

2. FX-6100 is supported "after" bios 0815. Is the bios on that motherboard that new or later?

3. 4xxx PCIe video card should work. If there is a place on video card for power, make sure it has power from power supply.

4. I would certainly remove all power from the motherboard by unplugging the power supply from the A/C outlet and then clear the CmOs. REapply A/C power and try and boot again if Cpu power plug to mobo has been attended to.

5. About it with only the information seen so far.

Edit:
it wont boot, no boot leds no dram led nothin, = I went back and read that which you had written. That sounds like it could be a bad board or cpu or bad ram. You will not have boot Leds if cpu or ram is bad. You will not have dram led if the ram is bad, I don't think. Maybe you have mounted the board with a short from board to stand-off or some other place on the case.
End Edit.
 
Last edited:
What output are you using from the Video card ?
Is it different from what you have been using to the monitor and is the proper input set on the monitor? I've don't that several times myself ! :)
 
What output are you using from the Video card ?
Is it different from what you have been using to the monitor and is the proper input set on the monitor? I've don't that several times myself ! :)

plugged in both dvi i and dvi D or g whatever it is, and yes, this monitor i use everyday and its perfectly fine, i have 3 monitors and tried them all too
 
1. You don't mention power supply. Do you have 8 pin CPU power connector plugged into the board from the power supply.

2. FX-6100 is supported "after" bios 0815. Is the bios on that motherboard that new or later?

3. 4xxx PCIe video card should work. If there is a place on video card for power, make sure it has power from power supply.

4. I would certainly remove all power from the motherboard by unplugging the power supply from the A/C outlet and then clear the CmOs. REapply A/C power and try and boot again if Cpu power plug to mobo has been attended to.

5. About it with only the information seen so far.

Edit:
it wont boot, no boot leds no dram led nothin, = I went back and read that which you had written. That sounds like it could be a bad board or cpu or bad ram. You will not have boot Leds if cpu or ram is bad. You will not have dram led if the ram is bad, I don't think. Maybe you have mounted the board with a short from board to stand-off or some other place on the case.
End Edit.

yes of course everything is plugged in since everything else turns on including the green light on the mobo, and the 4xxx card doesnt have no power cable, it goes right in the pci slot and the fan on it turns on also. and i did unplug everything and take out the lil cell battery to clear the mobo, and the bios i think is rlly old, never updated, but this mobo+cpu combo was bought and built by me for a friend and have been working since, and i jus bought it off of him and took it out with my own hands also. just this time with different rams and different graphic card. i can try using different set of rams tonight and see if that helps
 
Did you try assembling the system with the motherboard outside of the case - like on a table top - with bare minimum components? Could be you have a ground out against the case like that which could be caused by a misplaced or extra motherboard standoff.
 
Did you try assembling the system with the motherboard outside of the case - like on a table top - with bare minimum components? Could be you have a ground out against the case like that which could be caused by a misplaced or extra motherboard standoff.

i dont think so but i shall check, extra ground will cause it to power on but not boot onto monitor?
 
i wanted to take off my cpu block today and try to remount it better since i didnt do a good job on the thermal paste, and i found 3 bent pins alone the side of the processor!!!! can i bent it back and pretend nothin happend before and itll work? or is this a goner
 
I ended up fixing a bent pin on my fx-4100, it's a pain might not always work, but I did the same thing that they did here(
) Good luck to sir, you will need it
 
I ended up fixing a bent pin on my fx-4100, it's a pain might not always work, but I did the same thing that they did here(
) Good luck to sir, you will need it

well i have no broken pins, its just bent, not weirdly bent, just straight bent down a lil bit. and i also got some thermal paste on there, is the leftover thermal paste ok? cause i cant seem to have anyway of clearing it off
 
The thermal paste could cause a problem in that it could insulate or partially insulate the pin. You'll just have to try it and see. Always check for bent pins when installing a CPU. Hold it up to a sunlit window seems to work best for me in spotting bent pins.
 
i bent the pins back, puts it back in the mobo and still wont work, i mean, if the processor is bad, wont there be a red light, or if a cpu is bad the mobo wont even turn on would it?
 
yes of course everything is plugged in since everything else turns on including the green light on the mobo, and the 4xxx card doesnt have no power cable, it goes right in the pci slot and the fan on it turns on also. and i did unplug everything and take out the lil cell battery to clear the mobo, and the bios i think is rlly old, never updated, but this mobo+cpu combo was bought and built by me for a friend and have been working since, and i jus bought it off of him and took it out with my own hands also. just this time with different rams and different graphic card. i can try using different set of rams tonight and see if that helps

So correct me if I'm wrong, but now"after pulling it out" you have a different set of ram in this board? Do you know if this ram is good or even compatible with the board? you said it also turns on just nothing splashes on the screen, the led indicators on the board itself should tell you if there is a hardware problem, are any of those coming on upon start up? Also what kind of psu are you using? Is it the hx750 in your sig?
 
So correct me if I'm wrong, but now"after pulling it out" you have a different set of ram in this board? Do you know if this ram is good or even compatible with the board? you said it also turns on just nothing splashes on the screen, the led indicators on the board itself should tell you if there is a hardware problem, are any of those coming on upon start up? Also what kind of psu are you using? Is it the hx750 in your sig?

the rams thats in there is vengeance 8gbs, proven compatible and proven works as it was on there running once upon a time and is now running in my main rig, and psu im using is a cx600, and gpu i used to boot now is my new gtx680, and no led indicator coming on as to no hardware problems. everything powers on, graphic card spins, no ram led, no boot led, nothin, but i dont have a speaker so i cant rlly hear beeps but visually everything seems fine, just dont get a signal to the monitor, and monitor is proven to work also.
 
Do you have the DVI or w/e cable you are using plugged in to the GPU and not to the motherboard?

LOoks like you need bios 0815 on there for it to work with that CPU... is it on the board?
 
Do you have the DVI or w/e cable you are using plugged in to the GPU and not to the motherboard?

LOoks like you need bios 0815 on there for it to work with that CPU... is it on the board?

yes of course, this mobo doesnt have onboard graphics, but im not sure if its got that bios, but in my earlier post ive mentioned, this mobo/cpu combo was working, up and running, i was the one to buy it for a friend, built it for him and worked til he wanted a upgrade, i bought it back and took it off his system and now put it in my new built. just using a different gpu to boot
 
I'm assuming you don't have another amd cpu to test with do you? Try using just one dimm in the A2 socket and swap out with the other one if the first stick doesn't work.
 
I'm assuming you don't have another amd cpu to test with do you? Try using just one dimm in the A2 socket and swap out with the other one if the first stick doesn't work.

tried that with 4 sticks of rams already, ive done everything, this isnt my first time trying to troubleshoot things, but i guess ill go to compusa tomorrow, buy a new processor pop it in and hope it magically fixes everything!
 
Back